Apple Crumble | Recipe

I've never been very organized when it comes to my recipes. Now I have a small rack in the kitchen where I keep most of them... in many pieces of paper, of different sizes, some written by me, some written by friends or family, some printed from the internet... OK, it's still not very organized (it's a mess actually!) but at least they are all in the same place! Before that, I used to lose my little papers all the time. And that was the reason why I started posting my recipes here. I got tired of always having to ask my mother or search the internet for the same recipes...over and over again. 

And the Apple Crumble was the main responsible for that. The filling part can be improvised in the spur of the moment I never bothered to write it down, and over the years I've made it in many different ways and with different fruits... But the crumble part, yeah, for that it's better to have a recipe, with proper measures and all, and that's what I kept writing down in small papers and then losing. 

So, if you want an easy dessert, that pretty much can't go wrong, and will still cause an impression, a Crumble is a safe choice.

for the crumble:

225g plain flour

115g butter (cold)

90g caster sugar

1 pinch salt

for the filling:

4 apples

2 table spoons butter

2 table spoons sugar

1 vanilla bean or vanilla sugar

ground cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven at 200.C

Mix the flour, the sugar and the salt. Add the cold butter (cut in chunks) and mix everything with your hands until it looks like bread crumbs. This will be the topping, so set it aside for now.

The basic idea for the filling is to caramelize the fruit slightly. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the fruit (pealed and cut into chunks) to the pan and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Sauté the apples, stirring frequently, for about 6 minutes. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar, the cinnamon and the seeds of a vanilla bean (or a 2 tea spoons of vanilla sugar) over the apples, toss the mixture gently and let it cook  for another 2 minutes. 

Put the filling on an oven proof dish (I used 3 small bowls because I did a smaller portion) and sprinkle the crumble topping over it. You don't want to make the top layer too thick or it will be difficult to spoon through it! And it's a good idea to leave some open spaces on the sides to let the caramel bubble up.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden.

Serve warm with ice-cream, whipped cream or crème-fraîche.

Notes: 

Instead of apples you can use pears...or even both.

You can add berries to the filling mixture. I've tried it with blackberries, strawberries and raspberries (not at the same time, though that might have been awesome)...basically I use what I have at home at that moment. But, if you do use the berries, add them to the other fruit after the first initial 6 minutes of cooking...because they are more gentle and we don't want them turned into mush.

photography by | life as a moodboard |

Hope you like it!

Milk Buns | Recipe

Today I'm very excited to share with you my latest culinary obsession - my little 'milk' buns (something like pain-au-lait in french, or pão-de-leite in portuguese). 

Now, making bread at home may sound like to much trouble when you can just go to the shop and get some...but trust me, these are no trouble at all and they're so, so worth it! 

The recipe is really simple and fairly quick, they taste great (especially with just butter, right out of the oven...hmmmm) and, as a bonus, your home will smell like a bakery! 

for 9 buns:

1 egg

50g butter (2 Tb spoons)

1,25dl water (1/3 cup)

1,25dl milk (1/3 cup)

25g yeast (fresh yeast)

60g sugar (5 table spoons)

500g flour (4 ½ cups)

pinch of salt

(optional: one egg yolk and sugar for the topping)

Start by dissolving the yeast in lukewarm water (about 30.C). I use water from the tap, it's perfectly fine. Then add the milk, also warm. Let that rest while you measure the other ingredients, so the yeast starts activating.

Put everything in a big bowl, including the liquids with the yeast, but leave about 1/3 of the flour out. The butter should be at room temperature (or 20 sec in the microwave if you, like me, always forget to take it out of the fridge in time). 

Mix the dough very well using the spiral attachment on your electric mixer (the one on the photo above). Add the remaining flour and mix all very well again. 

Cover the bowl with kitchen plastic film, or a clean plastic bag and a rubber band, and place it in a warm place. I normally place it next to the radiator, covered with a tea towel. Let it rest for about 30min to 1 hour. The dough should rise a lot and get full of air inside (looks kind of like an alien nest, but that's all right).

Shape the buns and place them on an oven tray covered with parchment paper. I roll them in a bit of flour to help shaping them. And they don't need to be very big, I normally make 9. Let them rest there for 30 more min. They will grow a bit more and look really pretty. 

Before putting the buns in a pre-heated oven at 225.C, you can get a nice finishing touch by brushing some egg yolk on top and then sprinkling it with sugar. I normally make half like this (because it reminds me of the buns I had when I was a child) and the other half just plain.

Bakes for 12 to 15 minutes depending on the oven.

photography by | life as a moodboard |

Pretty simple right? 

As always, if you give it a try I'd love to hear about it.

sonhos | Portuguese RECIPE

I want to share with you the recipe for a traditional Carnival treat from Madeira island. They are called 'Sonhos', which means dreams in Portuguese. And the name is quite fitting because they are a hollow and light, deep fried dough dream! My grandmother used to make them this time of the year, and it was one of my favourite things when I was a kid. I would sit in front of a plate full of 'Sonhos', heavily drizzled with sugar cane molasses (as it is traditional on Madeira island), and the rest of the world would just stop existing until I was finished with them. And... well... apparently that hasn't changed! I made a bowl of 'Sonhos' yesterday afternoon and none lasted the night. 

It was the first time I tried making these, so I actually over fried a few until I got the oil temperature right (and yes, I ate them anyway). I got the recipe and instructions - old family recipes always come with lots of instructions - from my mother and I'll do my best to explain it all properly here. But a piece of advise before I start with the recipe per se: having a male specimen with strong arms close by might come handy. 

you will need:

a bottle of vegetable oil for deep frying (I used sunflower)

½ cup water

½ cup milk

1 table spoon butter

2 lemon peels

1 cinnamon stick

pinch of salt

1 cup flour

2 tea spoons baking powder

4 eggs

making the dough:

Mix the baking powder with the flour and reserve.

Put the water, milk, butter, cinnamon, lemon peels and salt in a medium pot on the stove. As soon as it starts boiling, move the pot away from the stove and remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon peels.

Add the flour, all at once, to the liquid and stir vigorously, with a wooden spoon, until it forms one big ball of dough. And this is when another person might be useful to help. One should hold the pot firmly, while the other stirs. Then let the dough cool down (about 10-15 min).

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing it very well in between. And again, help is very welcomed here. The dough will no longer be like a ball but just a gooey, sticky thing. Let it rest for 30 min.

frying the dough:

The oil should be at about 160.C, but I don't have a kitchen thermometer so I had to adjust between batches. I found out that something between n.3 and n.4 on my electric stove was the ideal. The reason why you don't want it to be very hot is because the dough needs to stay in it for some time. There's a fascinating  process that needs to be completed before you can take them out. 

With a table spoon grab a bit of dough, more or less the size of a walnut. The dough will almost triple it's size while frying, so you don't need to put a lot to start with. With a quick movement of your finger (but carefully, we are talking about burning oil here!) drop the dough in the oil. You can do this 3 or 4 times, depending on the width of the pot, but keep in mind the dough will need some space to move around. I put 3 pieces at a time. 

Now the funny part - the dough will turn itself around, no need for micro-managing it, and eventually the outside will burst and dough will come out and start frying too. This should happen once or twice, and it's what will make them so light and almost empty inside. All you have to do is pay attention and remove the 'Sonhos' from the pot once this process is finished (meaning: if they start getting too dark and haven't done anything interesting for a couple of minutes). Put them on a plate covered with kitchen paper, to absorb some of the oil, before placing them in a bowl, plate or tray. And finally, just let them cool down before eating (or do as I do and risk a stomach ache...don't judge).

Like I mentioned before, I eat them with sugar cane molasses... to me that's the pinnacle of delight. But I'm not sure how easy it is to find that in other parts of the world. And also it may be one of those...ermm...acquired taste situations. So, an alternative, also typical from Madeira island, is to have them with a sugar and lemon syrup. Though personally I find that disgusting... 

photos by | life as a moodboard |

And that's it. Not all that complicated. 

I thought at least my Portuguese readers might like to give a try. 

If you do, I'd love to hear about it!

Chocolate Salami - Recipe

One of my favourite things about having this blog is that it gives me the perfect excuse to make food. Namely, the old recipes, the old family traditions, that make for a huge part of my childhood memories, and that otherwise would get pretty much lost. I get to cook, eat, and then show the photos to my family and have a laugh while we all remember the stories attached to every recipe. 

This one, for example, was one of my brother's favourites. Like the Maria Biscuit Cake and the Chocolate Mousse, the Chocolate Salami had a mandatory presence in kids' birthday parties. But my brother really only liked the one that my mother made... So, every single time we were at someone else's party he would take a bite of the salami and be inevitably disappointed. It was funny and heart breaking at the same time. I don't even know why he kept trying, but that's what made it the more comic. 

So here is my mother's recipe. It's a dark salami, not too sweet, just right!

100g chocolate powder 

100g cocoa powder

200g powdered sugar

125g butter 

4 egg yolks

200g butter biscuits (the recipe says Petit Beurre but I used what I had at home which was Maria biscuits)

whisky or Brandy (optional) 

Crush the biscuits in a food processor. Or punch them if you feel like it, but that's a lot of unnecessary work. Some of the biscuits will be reduced to powder but you want to get most of it in little pieces like you can see in the photos. 

Use butter at room temperature or slightly softened (15 sec in the microwave if it just came out of the fridge).

Throw everything into a big bowl except for the whisky. Mix all very well with your hands until you get a consistency that you can shape into a big ball (if need add another egg yolk). 

Place it on a big piece of parchment paper, sprinkled with the whiskey/brandy, and shape it, roughly, like a cylinder or log. Wrap it all with the parchment paper and twist the ends (like a Christmas cracker). Sprinkle again the outside of the paper with a bit of whisky/brandy - I know, it's supposed to be a recipe for children, don't ask! I didn't have whisky at home, I hate whisky, so I skipped this step. It's not a big deal if you don't want to use it, but I think that the whisky helps to solidify the salami  and it also gives a certain acidity, a twist that it's quite nice. 

Leave in the fridge for a few hours until hardened. Cut thin slices when you want to eat it and keep the rest in the fridge. 

photos by me

And that's it :) Easy no?

If you decide to try I'd love to hear about your experience.

Mushroom Risotto - Recipe

A few days ago, while 'zapping' through all the TV channels (I was bored and waiting for Emil to come home from an evening shift), I stumbled upon a cooking program. I stopped, as I always do when I see food, and became increasingly interested as the blond woman on TV kept working on something that turned out to be a Mushroom Risotto.

I had never made Risotto before but it was something I really wanted to try. Unfortunately my many years of following the american cooking show 'Top Chef' made me be afraid of it, because it's something that normally goes wrong for the chefs. It seemed to be just one step below the difficulty of making a soufflé. In any case and even though I can't say I like mushrooms, I decided it was time to give it a try. 

The recipe on TV was for a risotto made in the oven, but I decided to go the traditional way and plant myself in front of the stove for about 30 minutes, while patiently adding water and wondering if the thing would end up edible or not. And by the way, a piece advice, do it at night or when the temperature drops.

To my big surprise, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be and it was absolutely delicious. Gooey heaven in a bowl! Oh, and a small warning for those of weak stomach (like my Danish man...sigh) this is a very rich dish.

for 3 generous servings.

butter 

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 finely chopped onion 

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic 

1 full cup arborio rice or other risotto rice

1/3 cup white wine

5-6 cups chicken stock

mushrooms of your choice (shiitake, chanterelle, I'm really not a fan of mushrooms so I have no idea which type I used), cleaned and chopped

1 tea spoon white truffle oil (not absolutely necessary)

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 tb spoon Mascarpone (not absolutely necessary)

fresh chives (again you can use another fresh herb of your preference, like parsley) 

Start by chopping the onion and the garlic, and boiling the water where you will dissolve 2 cubes of chicken stock.

Melt 2 table spoons of butter in a big sauce pan (it's good to have a big flat surface while making risotto) and add the onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the onions are translucent.

Add the risotto and stir to combine.

Add the white wine and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

With the stove on a medium temperature, start adding the simmering stock, just enough to cover the risotto each time, and stirring frequently. Repeat every time the water has almost evaporated until you run out of stock (I think I did it 5 or 6 times). It takes around 25 minutes. You may need more water, depending on the temperature of your stove and how quickly the water evaporates, so it's a good idea to have some extra boiling water on the side and taste the risotto when you've added the last of the stock to see if it needs more water or not. It needs to taste cooked, if it's raw you'll know it. You may want to add a bit more salt and pepper at this time.

During this process, because you need to wait a few minutes before adding more water, chop the mushrooms and sauté them in a table spoon of butter and the white truffle oil. The truffle oil wasn't part of the original recipe but I love the flavour and always find an excuse to cook with it. It should take only 5 minutes, you don't want them too mushy. Add the juice the mushrooms released while cooking to the risotto, and set the mushrooms aside. 

When the risotto is cooked, take it off the heat and add the Parmesan cheese and a spoon of Mascarpone. Mix it well, you don't need to be afraid to stir it because the more gooey it gets, the better. And finally, add the mushrooms and the chives. You can garnish it with a few extra shaves of Parmesan. Serve immediately. 

all photos by me

Hope you like it!

Lady Golden Glow Cake - Recipe

After posting the recipe for my quick and easy cocoa cupcakes,  I decided to venture into something more complicated (but not to much! By now, my readers must have noticed that my recipes tend to be very "user friendly"). But first, please, allow me to explain why I wanted to share this specific recipe with you.

I remember being little and my grandmother making this cake that completely fascinated me. I wouldn't exactly eat it, the combination of orange and dark chocolate is something that I enjoy a lot now, but back then it sounded just weird. Instead, I would sit  in front of the cake, staring at it for minutes unending, while often poking it gently to make sure it was real. It's a memory I wasn't even absolutely sure it had really happened. So, even after my mother's confirmation that the cake existed and gave me the recipe, I had to google it to make sure other people knew about it, and that the image I had of it wasn't just a product of my imagination. The Lady Golden Glow cake... really, who names cakes like that any more?... is now referred to as a Retro Cake! Isn't that just adorable? 

The original recipe is English so my grandmother had to convert it to grams, which made for really strange measures. To make it easier, I tried to convert it all back to cups.

for the cake:

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1 and 2/3 cups white sugar

1/2 orange zest

2 egg yolks

1 egg white

3 cups plain flour

3 tea spoons baking powder
1 cup milk

a pinch of salt

1/3 of a cooking chocolate tablet (melted)

Pre-heat the oven.

Cream butter and sugar. Add the orange zest and the 2 egg yolks. 

On the side, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and add it to the batter, alternating with the milk. 

Fold in the stiffened egg white. 

Divide batter into two parts in separate bowls. To one part add the melted chocolate. 

Alternate big table spoons of dark and light batter into the greased and floured cake pan. (I think a cake pan with a hole in the middle might work better but I had to use the plain one I have at home). 

Bakes at 180.C ( 350F.) for about 50 min. or until tester comes out clean.

for the glazing:

3 table spoons butter (melted) 

3 cups powdered sugar 

1/2 orange zest

1/2 orange juice + the pulp of that orange

1 egg white

the rest of the cooking chocolate (grate a bit for the top of the cake and melt the rest)

Mix and beat well the butter, sugar and the orange, zest, juice and pulp (no need to worry to much about these measures, I added the zest and then just squished out the juice and pulp with my hands).

Add the stiffened egg white.

Cover the top part of the cake with this mixture. While it's still soft add the grated chocolate. 

To the rest of the batter, add the melted chocolate, and spread it on the sides of the cake.

Having tasted it now, after so many years, I have to say I really like it. And for my big surprise, Emil absolutely loved it! ...and he can be really picky at times.

all photos by me

My parents scanned this page, with the Lady Golden Glow recipe, from my grandmother's old cooking book and I wanted to share it with you because I think it is a wonderful relic.

If you know this cake, or decide to try it, I would love to hear about it!

Cocoa Cupcakes - Recipe

As promised on a previous post, I'm sharing the recipe for my easy, simple and delicious cocoa cupcakes. It makes for 5 or 6 cupcakes, not too sweet, but with an intense and wonderful cocoa taste... and smell!

This recipe is extremely easy and it doesn't make a big mess in the kitchen, so it became my "mid-night saviour , while in the middle of a series marathon, at late hours, and feel in need of something yummy.

It's a blessing and a curse...

2 table spoons butter (melted, 30 sec in the microwave)

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

2 table spoons cocoa powder

½ tea spoon vanilla aroma 

½ cup flower + ½ tea spoon baking powder

2 table spoons milk

Pre-heat the oven at 180.C.

Use a small bowl and a whisker. Add the ingredients by the order above mixing well after each one. 

I use two VERY full spoons of cocoa because I really want to get an intense flavour.

Put 5 or 6 cupcake paper cups in a cupcake pan (no need to pre grease anything or wash the cups later) and distribute the batter using a table spoon.

Bakes for 15 minutes. 

I advise waiting a bit before eating them but in an emergency they go down well while still hot (because of the wonderful smell they release it's difficult to resist) with a cup of milk.

That was the basic recipe. But if you want to make it more fancy, then it's time to put that electric mixer to work, and get a nice frosting on your cupcakes. I personally love them simply with whipped cream. But today I tried a mascarpone and cocoa frosting. the mascarpone is to replace the typical butter-cream because Emil finds it too sweet.

4 table spoons mascarpone

2 table spoons heavy cream (might work with milk or sour cream)

2 table spoons cocoa powder

2 table spoons confectioners sugar

½ tea spoon vanilla aroma

a pinch of salt

Mix everything well and apply it with a piping bag and add a few sprinkle of chocolate on top, to make it more pretty. 

   

   

all photos by me

Hope you like it as much as we do here!

Have a great weekend.

Béarnaise Sause

Friday is the day I kick my diet in the butt, and yesterday I gave it a royal kick with a big bowl of béarnaise sauce. The Mr. was craving for it and, since he behaved so well for the whole week by not eating things that would make me pull my hairs out in despair, I thought it was only fair to grant him his wish. I know you can buy this sauce in the supermarkets ready to eat or half prepared but... C'mon! It is not the same thing and it doesn't give half the satisfaction. It is indeed a tricky little thing to make, but once you get the hang of it you'll see just how much it is worth it. I use a recipe adapted and perfected by my father over the years. There are a few differences from the original recipe but the result is still amazing. If you feel brave enough give it a try.

this makes enough for 4 people:

(even though it's the amount I make just for the 2 of us at home...don't judge until you try it!)

1 small onion finely chopped (half the size of the one you can see in my pictures)

2 table spoons dry tarragon (or according to your taste)

White wine 

2 egg yolks

250g (a pack) cold butter (a good idea is to previously slice the butter into 7 or 8 pieces)

Throw the chopped onion and the tarragon into a small sauce pan and add the white wine just enough to cover it. In low heat let the wine evaporate completely (there should not be any liquid left but don't let it burn). 

Remove the sauce pan from the stove and place it's outside under cold running water for a few seconds (this is a nice trick). 

Now it's where the complicated bit starts. The thing about this sauce is that you need to have perfect control over it's temperature. Too much heat will make the yolks and the butter separate and not enough heat will make it stay liquid and not really a sauce. My two first attempts here in Denmark were a failure because I wasn't used to an electric stove. I used to cook with fire and had to figure out what the stupid numbers on this new stove meant. Finally I found out that number 3 was the one I wanted (out of 6). Moving on...

Get the butter out of the fridge at this point. 

Back to the stove, low flame or number 3, add the yolks and start stirring until you get sort of a paste (takes seconds). Then add a piece of butter and stir...never stop stirring...vigorously. when that piece is fully incorporated add another one and repeat the process. A good idea, to avoid over heating, is to add the pieces of butter and start stirring with the sauce pan on the stove and then, when it's half melted, finish it away from the heat. 

When all the butter is incorporated keep stirring, moving the pan on and off the heat if needed, until it gets the consistency of a sauce. And it's done!

all photos by me

Enjoy!

Christmas Chocolate Biscuits

These last two weeks I've been spending my time between baking and running outside every time it starts snowing. And I mean that literally! I drop my oven mittens, put on my new gorgeous, baby blue,wellington boots and go out to try catching the snow flakes with my face. For me, snow is still something new and exciting and I've been learning a lot about it. First of all, I learned that if I keep moving back and forth, from a warm oven to a frozen terrace, I will get a nasty cold...snif...snif. But that was totally worth it. I've seen snow I could shape and play with, snow that feels like sand and snow that was frozen and no fun at all. And I learned that there is a thing called "black ice" that is difficult to see and extremely slippery and that I need to be careful not to fall on my behind when I walk on it.

Now, this post isn't about snow but it all started on a snowy evening, when I was snuggling on my sofa, under a duvet, watching Nigella Lawson's special Christmas cooking program on TV. Amongst other delicious things, she started making these chocolate biscuits and it was love at first sight. When I saw that dough I KNEW I had to make them. And I'll say it again... it was when I saw the dough, not the actual biscuits... which probably means I have been baking way to much this last year! So I got up, "googled" the recipe (which you can see here) and it seemed simple enough for me.

These biscuits are not too sweet and they have a crunchy, sandy texture that I love (but if you have kids or a man at home that will mean lots of crumbs all over the place). The first batch I made ended up not having any sort of topping because I run out of confectioners sugar and this was at mid-night. But they were so delicious that they all disappeared before I had time to go buy more sugar. So I made another batch and today I tried the topping on half of them. I think they are pretty damn good to eat without the toppings, and the chocolate topping is a bit too sweet for my taste, but they do look more festive for the holiday season if you add a bit of colourful sprinkles and sparkles on top.

[updated] After I posted this recipe I gave one of the biscuits with topping to Emil, who had just gotten back home from work, to try. He said and I quote: "The topping distracts from the awesomeness of the biscuit". I couldn't have said it better and completely agree, so even though it looks pretty there will be no more toppings for me!

I made a few small changes so I'll leave you here the adapted recipe (most of the description was copied from the original recipe since I still find it hard to explain this things in English at times).

For the biscuits:

250g butter (soft)

150g confectioners sugar (caster sugar in the original)

40g cocoa powder

300g plain flower

3/4 tea spoon baking powder

a pinch of salt (the original recipe says bicarbonate of soda but  that thing leaves a weird after taste)

For the topping:

2 table spoons cocoa powder

175g confectioners sugar 

60ml water (boiling)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

sprinkles of your choice

Pre-heat the oven to 170.C Cover 2 oven trays with cooking paper. 

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Add the flour with the salt and baking powder and keep mixing. I used my electric mixer for this and after adding the flour I got a very lumpy mixture so I finished it with my hands.

Pinch of pieces from the dough, about the size of a big walnut, roll them into balls, and then slightly flatten into fat discs as you place them, well spaced, on your baking sheet (more or less 12 biscuits per tray)

The original recipe said that this dough was very sticky, but mine wasn't! Which I thought it was just perfect because I hate dough glued to my fingers. This was very, very easy to shape...oh, and delicious to eat!

Bake for 15 min. It won't feel as if they have had enough time but they will continue to cook as they cool. And they will get harder, so don't panic if they feel mushy as getting out of the oven. Let them cool on a cold surface before moving to the topping.

To make the topping, put all the ingredients, except the sprinkles, into a small sauce pan and whisk over a low heat until everything is smoothly combined. The original recipe says to leave it for 10 min, but my chocolate wasn't to warm to start with so I started topping the biscuits immediately. 

Ice 6 biscuits at a time with one table spoon of chocolate and then the sprinkles and let it cool completely.

And that's it! Easy no? And the best part is that they aren't really part of mine or Emil's Christmas traditions so I feel free to make them all year round :)

Merry Christmas and enjoy! 

all photos by me